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New York’s coronavirus numbers are continuing to inch downward in recent days — even as new cases go up nationally, the latest data shows.
The Big Apple’s COVID-19 infection rate on a seven-day rolling average was at 5.26 percent and has hovered slightly above that figure for the past several days, according to the most recent data Thursday.
Mayor Bill de Blasio noted during his daily City Hall press briefing Thursday that that number is “getting close” to the 5 percent threshold that the city previously set as a coronavirus warning sign.
Gotham’s coronavirus positivity is showing signs of decline after remaining stubbornly for weeks around the 6 percent mark.
Additionally, COVID-19-related hospitalizations and new reported cases in the city are also trending downward.
According to the latest data, 164 people were admitted to city hospitals with suspected COVID-19 on Tuesday and 64.1 percent of them tested positive for the bug.
People line up at a mobile rapid testing site set up at Corona Plaza in Queens, New York. Lev Radin via Getty Images“That is a really good number,” de Blasio said, explaining that the 164 figure is “well below” the city’s threshold of 200.
The city’s seven-day rolling average of new virus cases was at 2,447, according to the data.
De Blasio said the statistics show “some good signs” and that “something good is happening,” but warned that “we are far from out of the woods.”
According to the latest data, 164 people were admitted to city hospitals with suspected COVID-19 on Tuesday and 64.1 percent of them tested positive for the bug. Timothy Clary/AFP via Getty Images“Keep your guard up, keep vigilant, keep doing the good work that you’re doing as New Yorkers, keep wearing the mask, practicing the distancing, being smart, being careful and getting vaccinated,” the mayor said.
To date, the city has administered 5.4 million coronavirus vaccine doses.
Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations across the Empire State have dropped to 3,963 — the first time that figure hit under 4,000 since Dec. 1, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday.
The statewide positivity rate also plunged to 2.76 percent — the lowest since Nov. 21 — while the statewide seven-day average infection rate dropped to 3.05 percent, the lowest since Nov. 25, Cuomo said. The state and city measure their figures differently, so the two rates are not comparable.
“New Yorkers are continuing to practice the right behaviors and follow the state’s public health guidance, and they should be commended for that,” the governor said in a statement.
New York City has administered 5.4 million coronavirus vaccine doses. Lev Radin via Getty Images“Even as we make progress vaccinating more New Yorkers every single day and hospitalizations drop to new lows, it’s critical for us all to stay vigilant until the infection rate drops and we reach a higher level of immunity,” said Cuomo.
Nationally, coronavirus cases are continuing to climb.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo looks on as a New Yorker gets vaccinated at a COVID-19 vaccination site at Belmont Park. Mary Altaffer/Getty ImagesAccording to the most recent data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the seven-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases was at 69,953 as of Tuesday.
Coronavirus deaths in the US continue to decline, with the most recent seven-day moving average at 713, according to CDC data.
